Some Things Never Change
by Cupc4k3 R34p3r
Summary: Why does Johnny 13's shadow serve him? One-shot about how a simple mistake leads to the destruction of innocent lives, and an after-life of misfortune. Challenge from Sincerely The Sign Painter


**A/N: **This was a challenge for Sincerely The Sign Painter for the back-story of Johnny 13's shadow. I worked really hard on it, so hopefully it's worth the wait :D It's a little darker than I originally planned... Oh well. I had to bend the original rules for the challenge just a little bit, or else it wouldn't have come out as good. :) Enjoy

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><p><strong>Some Things Never Change<strong>

In my afterlife, I exist for one reason... to serve Johnny 13. I can never pass on, for I have duties preventing me from leaving. Sometimes, I think it would be nice to move on, but I am forever bound as an eternal servant.

I still remember the day everything went wrong for me.

My name was Tom Umbra, but everybody called me Shadow, because I would shadow others before killing them. I was immensely involved with gang activity, a well-respected hit man. I would kill because I thought I was doing the world a favor by getting rid of those who hurt others, but now I realize I was just doing other people's dirty work. In reality, my sense of justice was off, and I became the evil I longed to destroy. The line between good and bad is a thin one, and I'd take it all back if I could.

But that day, the day I died, was when I came to this realization.

My morning started off like any other. I woke up in my filthy, cramped apartment, and I got ready to start the day. I wouldn't even be able to afford the place if it weren't for my brothers of the gang, who helped support me. I would leave to wander the streets until finding the alleyway the local members would often meet. I remember a few years before, I lived on the streets by myself, but my brothers offered me a better lifestyle, and I could not thank them enough to this day. They're probably all dead by now, but hopefully they'd have passed on.

Unlike me.

My best friend and my closest brother was Steel and that day, he had a special assignment for me.

"This one's bad," he would tell me "He been killin' our boys in the west, tryin' to take us down!"

"Say no more," I replied, eager to take down yet another threat to my brothers, as well as the rest of the city. It never occurred to me I was also terrorizing the citizens I longed to help.

"Thanks man, you always prove yourself faithful," another brother said. They were my family, so of course I wanted to protect them. Nothing about that seemed wrong to me, and I always beamed proudly when they praised me.

Steel handed me the information on my newest prey. The guy was known as Axel. I followed him around for the next few days. I was the perfect shadow, never noticed by my prey. Even in their dying moments, they never realize just who got them.

Axel rode around on a motorcycle, and a nice one at that. Every night at around 10 pm he would go for a drink at the same pub, and leave at around 11. The habits of some of these people disgusted me.

It was a Saturday night, at around 10:30 when I approached the familiar motorcycle. The task of sabotaging the bike was an easy one, as I've been doing this sort of thing for years now. I cut the brake line.

"I hope he has a pleasant ride home," I thought to myself. I immediately fled the scene.

It wasn't until a few days later that I realized my mistake.

If only I had shadowed him longer, I'd know that he met up with his buddies Saturday nights at a different pub.

I still remember the morning I left my home, and a newspaper from a nearby stand blew over to me. I could only read a little bit, but I knew enough to figure out the meaning of the article.

**COUPLE KILLED IN MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENT  
>Johnny Atuxos and Katherine Saunders were leaving a pub and had been riding home when the tragedy occurred. An engagement ring was found on the girl's finger. An interview with the couple's acquaintances revealed the ring had not been there before that night. Blood tests show that the driver had not been intoxicated at the time of the crash. It seems that this was no accident. Police investigators are searching to see if either parties had any enemies…<br>Read more on page 4**

I looked at the picture and studied the happy couple as well as the boy's bike. It was identical to Axel's...

I got the wrong bike! How could I have been so careless? Innocent people died because of me! My job is to protect them, not hurt them!

Despite how many people I've killed in my lifetime, a new guilt was born within me. I once had a lover, but she was killed by a member of an opposing gang. I never forgave the man who killed my darling, and I doubt I would ever be forgiven for taking the lives of an innocent couple with their entire futures ahead of them.

I needed to atone for my sins, and there was only one way that could be done.

I hung myself in the familiar alley-way of my brothers, and left a suicide note taped to my back.

Upon discovering the couple hadn't past on, I knew it was my duty to serve them. To this day, I am the shadow of Johnny 13, desperately trying to make up for the injustice I committed all those years ago. He will never know why I had taken it upon myself to do his bidding. Just like before, I am merely a pawn sent do others' dirty-work. Some things never change.


End file.
